Broken Wings
by LieutenantX
Summary: AU, SubaruTsukasa romance. In a time long past, great generals lead their troops on the field of battle. This is the story of the love, loss, and life of two of these warriors. Be patient with me, finale will be the next chapter. Everything goes down!
1. Chapter 1

Broken Wings   
  
  
  
Wise old man say: Fanfiction writer shall never achieve the owning of an anime series.   
  
Stop thinking so.   
  
  
  
A note on scale: In writing this, I borrowed heavily from movies and games such as   
  
Braveheart, Dynasty Warriors, Lord of the Rings, and the Total War series (Three words:   
  
Rome: Total War. Mmmm... elephants...). Anyone familiar with these can easily   
  
understand the scale and concepts portrayed here.   
  
  
  
A thousand years ago, a war was fought between two powerful nations for land and all   
  
that comes with it. The two sides battled endlessly, the Northern Alliance of Barbaric   
  
Tribes first fighting to take back land from their enemies, the Empire of the East, that had   
  
been conquered, then continuing in a campaign that came to a stalemate. Still, they   
  
fought, their leaders consumed with greed, their soldiers growing up knowing nothing but   
  
war. Great generals lead their forces into battle, legendary warriors whose cunning in   
  
strategy was only matched by their strength on the battlefield. This tale tells the love,   
  
loss, and life of those generals. Come closer to the fire, and listen to the tale of the Tiny   
  
Angel, Subaru, and her lover, the Shaman Tsukasa.   
  
  
  
The southern desert wind whistled through Bear's hair, ruffling it as he looked grimly   
  
across the field. They were losing. The number of troops the Empire had brought against   
  
them had exceeded his expectations. Though his warriors had fought valiantly against   
  
their foe, they were still only human, and could not continue fighting against this many   
  
enemies. Even now, he watched as an enemy unit regrouped after the last handful of men   
  
from the allied unit had given up and thrown down their weapons. He could not tell from   
  
where he stood if the surrendering unit was desert mercenaries or soldiers from their own   
  
territory. They held very little territory in this area, and even then, none of the natives,   
  
dark skinned and tribal, living in mud huts, understood the concept of occupation. He   
  
shook his head. The recently regrouped enemies were joining in a melee against another   
  
already outmatched unit.   
  
"Sound the retreat." He ordered.   
  
On the field, Mimiru rode like the wind among her foes, dancing her horse like a running   
  
river, her blade flashing as it hacked through man after man. She had lost count of the   
  
number she had killed today, her enemies' blood had sprayed again and again across her   
  
body, partially obscuring the tattoos that ran her full length. She swung her massive   
  
sword yet again, cleaving a soldier nearly in half as he himself was ready to bury his   
  
spear in one of her men. The sound of a horn echoing across the plain reached her ears.   
  
As she needed both hands to wield her sword, she used her knees to turn her horse and   
  
avoid one of the lone trees on the savanna. She looked at the rocky hill the horn had come   
  
from, her sharp eyes making out a handful of figures on it's peak. Those would be Bear   
  
and his unit.   
  
"It's about damn time! Retreat!"   
  
She yelled at her troops. More cries of 'retreat' were called as the word spread. All the   
  
soldiers who were not currently locked in a battle to the death made a mad dash for the   
  
narrow pass that lay between the mountain ridge Bear was watching from and it's other   
  
half, the two impassable stone faces continuing for as far as the eye could see. She kicked   
  
her horse, pushing it to run harder as it galloped in the thick of her troops, heading for the   
  
pass. Men ran on foot behind her, while the cavalry took the lead. As the two armies   
  
began to sort themselves out again, going from the intangible mass of battle to more   
  
defined attacking-pursuing groups, her mounted archers turned and fired into the enemy   
  
forces, their arrows arcing high and dropping onto some unsuspecting foe. Consequently,   
  
arrows began to fall around her, from the enemy's mounted and unmounted archers. A   
  
man riding to her left was thrown from his horse as an arrow pierced it's flank. It flopped   
  
on the ground, whinnying. The man quickly picked himself up and ran on foot. Mimiru   
  
carried the reins in one hand, her sword in the other as she rode between the high faces of   
  
the pass.   
  
  
  
Bear nodded, his face still as grim as it had always been.   
  
"Light the fuses." He ordered.   
  
  
  
Mimiru swore. The majority of her troops were inside the pass, and she herself was   
  
already approaching the other side!   
  
"What is he waiting for?" She muttered.   
  
As if on cue, the unmistakable sound of a detonating gunpowder charge filled the canyon.   
  
She laughed at the sound. The plan was working! Another charge detonated, ripping   
  
boulders out of the sides of the pass and casting them on their pursuers. Her troops ran a   
  
bit faster, now, she noticed. As the explosions, and stones, continued to fall, she stopped   
  
on the open savanna of the other side, raising her sword and calling for her troops to   
  
rally. Other commanders did this as well, bringing their troops back into their formations   
  
and facing them towards the now blocked pass. She took a moment to take a quick once-  
  
over at what was left of her troops. Where nine divisions had stood at the beginning of   
  
the day, six were left, and many with only a handful of their original men. A group of   
  
enemies had been cut off from their friends and mercifully not crushed by the rocks. They   
  
gave wary looks at their new, drastically altered odds and threw down their weapons.   
  
Mimiru smiled.   
  
  
  
"Ready, Fire!"   
  
Bear lowered his sword. His archers stood at the top of the pass, ready to discourage any   
  
attempts at staying in the area long enough to find a way around the barricade. Arrows   
  
zinged over his head, heading for the defenseless foes beneath him. Volley after volley,   
  
he began to count them. Six... (Whhp, shoop, ssssp...) Seven (Fffft, thhip...) He began to   
  
hear more cries from below.   
  
  
  
"Retreat!"   
  
The enemy began to fall away from the barricade. It didn't take very long for them to   
  
decide not to stay under Bear's archers like sitting ducks. They ran as fast as they could   
  
away from him, trying to get out of arrow range. He would spare them the trouble.   
  
"Hold fire!" He ordered. Another volley did not follow his command. Bear smiled. More   
  
or less, the day was won.   
  
  
  
She could see Bear and his soldiers ride down from their perch across the winding road   
  
that led to the bottom. As they approached, she ordered a soldier to spread an order for   
  
the army to return to base, and rode out to meet Bear. She pulled her horse alongside him,   
  
smiling, her sword resting on one shoulder.   
  
"Did anything go wrong on your side?" She asked.   
  
"No." He replied, not seeming to notice or care that she was covered in blood. His horse,   
  
however, snorted and moved a few steps away. Bear chided it with a growl before   
  
returning his attention to Mimiru.   
  
"Well, we did it!" She said.   
  
"Yes. We prevented a siege."   
  
"The last thing we need."   
  
Bear nodded.   
  
"The fort has very few supplies. We would only last a few days during a full siege. We're   
  
barely managing to live off the land now."   
  
"The reinforcements should be arriving within two weeks, though. With the additional   
  
men and supplies, we can begin our counter-offensive!" Mimiru had already forgotten the   
  
battle she'd fought and was moving on to the next one.   
  
"Yes, but we might have trouble getting through that barricade at the pass."   
  
Bear laughed at his own joke.   
  
  
  
The fort their detachment inhabited had been adapted from ancient ruins that had been   
  
found by a scouting expedition. With a few bricks lain in the gaps that had appeared over   
  
the centuries, the ruins once again became a suitable place to live. The ruins had been   
  
built around a strange light, perhaps to protect it, or contain it, none of them knew. A   
  
mysterious green orb of light that burned in the center of the fort the size of a large   
  
boulder, constantly giving off sparks, when they had first arrived, the men had been   
  
curious about it. One had even ventured to walk through it on a bet. Bear, having   
  
overheard this, seized the bow of the soldier next to him and fired an arrow through the   
  
thing. When it failed to come out the other side, the soldier thought better of his decision.   
  
That evening, Bear was at his makeshift desk in his office, one of the few rooms they had   
  
found intact. Mimiru pulled back the curtain that closed it off from the outside and   
  
stepped through, a few sheets of paper under her arm, written on both sides due to the   
  
shortage of paper in the fort's supplies. Bear grumbled as he filled and filed forms upon   
  
forms. Mimiru shook her head, seeing this great man shoved away behind a desk, bogged   
  
down in bureaucratic nonsense. When she had been a child, things had been different.   
  
The old ways were still honored. Then, there was a revolution of those who had civilized   
  
themselves, those that had come into relations with the Empire. They assumed control,   
  
and threw out their traditions and heritage. Since then, leading an army seemed to be   
  
more about your pen than your sword. They were no longer the 'barbarians' the Empire   
  
called them, much as Mimiru would have preferred that state of being.   
  
"I have the casualty reports from our unit commanders."   
  
"Good. File them."   
  
Mimiru tossed the papers on the fire. None of her unit commanders could spell. Neither   
  
could she. Bear had taken a full tally of every literate man in his detachment at the   
  
beginning of the campaign. Counting himself, there were fifty out of fifteen-hundred that   
  
could read and write English well, many of them could hardly even speak it, and that   
  
number steadily declined with the casualties they had taken. Most of the rest were fluent   
  
in various obscure runes and calligraphies, but command only accepted forms in their   
  
'national language'. Assholes. She took a fur-covered seat by the fire. Bear looked up at   
  
her.   
  
"Don't you have other duties?"   
  
Mimiru shook her head.   
  
"Nothing today. I think I'll just stay here awhile."   
  
She had washed the blood from her body earlier, dressing a few light wounds after she   
  
had finished. The other female warriors found the way she bathed after a battle hypnotic.   
  
She had later explained to them that in her province, no, her tribe, the cleansing of one's   
  
body after battle was the most solemn of ceremonies, where one reflected on the victories   
  
of the day, the lessons learned, and thanked the spirits for victory, or begged their   
  
forgiveness for a defeated flight. Her golden tattoos shone in the firelight as she leaned   
  
back and relaxed with a satisfied sigh. Bear sighed as he rolled up a parchment, tying it   
  
shut with a thin red thread, though Mimiru felt that his sigh was less satisfied.   
  
"You need to get out more."   
  
Bear shrugged.   
  
"What am I going to do? Command orders, I follow the orders."   
  
"Simpleton."   
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"   
  
"For a genius, Bear, you sure don't think."   
  
Bear grumbled and stood, his own tattoos, the different pattern showing the different tribe   
  
he belonged to, taking on a slightly different hue in the firelight. He sat in another chair,   
  
staring into the flames.   
  
"We can't disobey command. That's foolish. However, we don't have to enjoy the   
  
burdens that they place on us."   
  
Mimiru nodded. Bear was a wise man. He had been educated in many things, from   
  
mathematics to philosophy, at a school in a great city far to the west. He spoke many   
  
languages, able to easily communicate with any soldier. However, he still had the heart of   
  
a warrior, brave as any lion, more cunning than any fox.   
  
"Just relax. Forms and numbers can wait." She said.   
  
Bear nodded and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. His breathing deepened.   
  
Mimiru watched the fire for a long time, feeling the heat on her face and watching the   
  
sparks pop onto the stone floor. Glancing over at Bear, she realized he was asleep.   
  
Kurim was in no such state of peace at the moment.   
  
"I'm only telling you what I heard."   
  
The green-haired pest continued as he trailed Kurim through the camp.   
  
"Sora, why can't you just leave me alone?"   
  
"Because I thought you and Lady Subaru would want to know!"   
  
"Sora, I have had it up to here with your attitude."   
  
Kurim nodded at a passing soldier as he headed for the command tent. He   
  
absentmindedly swatted one of the overly large savanna mosquitoes that had come to rest   
  
on his cheek.   
  
"Oh, you've had it up to there for a long time. I'm glad I haven't made you any angrier."   
  
Kurim threw aside the tent flap and gave a curt bow to his Lady.   
  
"Subaru."   
  
Subaru had been looking at a map that had been rolled across one of four tables scattered   
  
about the wide tent. Writing and measuring instruments littered the tables, as well as   
  
human-shaped miniatures, making the tent a series of chess games, each representing a   
  
certain area of Lady Subaru's responsibility. She looked past Kurim to Sora and nodded.   
  
"I see our informant has brought news."   
  
Sora gave a ludicrous bow. If he had been able to, he would have touched his nose to his   
  
shoes. Calmly, he approached one of Subaru's boards, where two groups of pieces met at   
  
a pass, one colored red, the other blue. Subaru watched expectantly. She frowned as Sora   
  
took many of the pieces from both groups and moved the much smaller blue group   
  
halfway between the pass and their camp. He pushed the red group back to their own   
  
base.   
  
"So, we were defeated."   
  
"It seems so."   
  
"Unfortunate. We need to take that pass."   
  
"That could be difficult, Subaru." Kurim interjected, standing.   
  
"Why?"   
  
"It was barricaded during the battle. We will need to send extra troops to clear it."   
  
Subaru nodded.   
  
"I will organize another attack. We must push this offensive."   
  
Kurim nodded.   
  
"We will accompany them personally." Subaru continued.   
  
"What?" Kurim was taken by surprise.   
  
Sora smiled.   
  
"We're going with them."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"I need to oversee any further battles personally. We will dispatch the Crimson Knights   
  
to the area as well."   
  
Kurim nodded.   
  
"Very well then! Seems my work here is done." Sora strode out of the tent and   
  
disappeared into the camp. Kurim clenched his fist as he watched Sora go.   
  
"That... scum..."   
  
Subaru giggled.   
  
"You really do hate him, don't you?"   
  
Kurim sighed and shook his head, his rattail rippling back and forth gracefully.   
  
"He lives to annoy people."   
  
Subaru nodded.   
  
"I won't deny that he takes pleasure in watching you seethe."   
  
Kurim approached the table, standing behind Subaru. His arms encircled her waist, and   
  
he looked the map over from behind her.   
  
"Are you sure it's a wise decision to oversee this personally?"   
  
"We're up against a strong general. Anyone who could win against those odds has to be   
  
very wise indeed. Our troops will need all the help they can get."   
  
Kurim lowered his head, leaning down to whisper to her.   
  
"Wherever you go, I'll protect you."   
  
Subaru smiled and looked up at him.   
  
"Thank you, Kurim."   
  
"I love you, Subaru."   
  
She closed the last few inches between them with a kiss. Steadily, it grew more   
  
passionate as she turned around in his arms. Kurim lifted her onto the table, his hands   
  
caressing her sides, eliciting light moans from her beneath his lips. Their tongues   
  
wrestled as Subaru's hands passed to the front of his pants, Kurim's hands moving   
  
beneath her dress...   
  
  
  
Sora leaned against the outside of the tent, listening to the cries from within.   
  
"Oh, for the love of Mars. Why can't they wait until they have something to celebrate?   
  
Well, that's the last time I bring them bad news."   
  
He began to walk through the camp, looking for an unguarded meal.   
  
"Hm. Maybe if I tell them about a victory Kurim won't get his."   
  
He passed a soldier who had set down a pear to focus more attention on his card game.   
  
When the soldier reached for it again, it was gone. Sora laughed at the thought of Kurim   
  
and Subaru falling apart because of victory, taking off a large bite of his new pear. Once   
  
he had eaten all he could of it, he tossed the remains towards a horse that had been tied up   
  
outside one tent, and headed towards where he had tied his own.   
  
"Stupid Empire. Why do I even help them?"   
  
"Because the barbarians hate you."   
  
Sora made a face and stopped in his tracks. He quickly composed himself, and looked   
  
slyly over his shoulder.   
  
"Why, Commander B.T. Tell me, what ever motivated you to hide your name from us   
  
all?"   
  
"Again, Sora, because you don't appreciate the will of others. Now, what ray of sunshine   
  
have you brought us today?"   
  
B.T. stood behind Sora, a stern look on her face. The rogue put his arms behind his head   
  
nonchalantly and resumed walking.   
  
"Oh, nothing. Why don't you ask Subaru and Kurim? Oh, but wait another few minutes   
  
before you interrupt them."   
  
A small bolt of lightning whizzed over his shoulder, making his hair stand on end. He   
  
shook his head, unfazed.   
  
"Now, now. You really shouldn't take me that seriously. I kid because I love, don't you   
  
know."   
  
With that, Sora turned a corner and was gone. B.T. gripped her staff tighter as the last   
  
few arcs of electricity dissipated from it's floating jewel. Sora angered everybody. There   
  
was no way around it, but the man provided vital intelligence. She grumbled as she   
  
moved on. She was wanted in a meeting with her unit commanders. Her and Kurim both   
  
commanded portions of the detachment, and they both had responsibilities to their units.   
  
She currently commanded a small army in itself, five full units of light infantry, two units   
  
of heavy infantry, and two units of longbowmen, totaling nine-hundred men. Enough to   
  
conquer most lightly defended provinces and garrison them until reinforcements arrived.   
  
She needed to brief the commanders on their deployment, and additionally brief three   
  
new commanders. Two had fallen during a recent battle, and another had been promoted   
  
and shipped out to command the northern front. They were being picked apart by   
  
mountain guerrillas, she had heard. B.T. slipped inside another tent, ready to see what   
  
these new leaders were made of. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2   
  
  
  
Note: All translations care of AltaVista's Babel Fish online translation program.   
  
  
  
Twelve days after the battle, Bear silently swung a leg over his horse, tied outside of his   
  
office. A dozen soldiers and Mimiru were already waiting on horses by the front gate of   
  
the fort. He rode to meet them.   
  
"Good morning, Bear!" Mimiru greeted cheerfully as he approached, her sword sheathed   
  
across her back. He nodded a hello, his own sword carried on his saddle.   
  
"Are you ready?"   
  
She nodded. They rode through the front gate, the other soldiers following. Once they   
  
had cleared the outlying tents, Bear looked to the sun to orient them, and rode in the   
  
direction of the approaching reinforcements. Mimiru trotted her horse alongside his,   
  
smiling cheerfully.   
  
"I'm glad you decided to come with us, General!"   
  
Bear theatrically exaggerated his emotions. "Don't call me that." He muttered bitterly.   
  
"Oh, come on! You've been cooped up in that stuffy room for days!"   
  
"I'm going to have a mountain of paperwork when we get back from this." Mimiru stuck   
  
her tongue out at him.   
  
"Well, that's your problem and not mine!"   
  
She laughed. It died away after a moment, and she was serious again.   
  
"So, have you heard anything new about the Shaman that's coming with them?"   
  
Bear shook his head.   
  
"He's in command of the new detachment, but that's all I've heard. There's a rumor   
  
floating, though, that no one has ever seen him use magic."   
  
"What?"   
  
"None at all. However, he's supposed to be very good with herbs. Healing salves,   
  
explosives..."   
  
He coughed, although his cough sounded suspiciously like 'aphrodisiacs'. He grinned   
  
sheepishly. Mimiru punched him playfully, trying to hold back her giggles.   
  
"Bear... You're terrible."   
  
They continued to ride beneath the endless blue of the savanna sky.   
  
  
  
Helba watched the soldiers ride across the desert from atop a rocky hill, her staff slung in   
  
her saddle, at her hip and ready to be drawn if someone should be foolish enough to   
  
challenge her. Her magically extended senses allowed her to easily identify their leader.   
  
His tattoos and clothing identified him as a highland shaman, bringing in fresh troops   
  
from his homelands. His mannerisms differed from the other two commanders, both from   
  
the western deserts. However, they were beneath her, as was almost all of this foolish   
  
war, fought by petty nobles who had never held a sword and didn't understand the first   
  
meaning of true power. The core of her staff glowed slightly in empathy to her emotions.   
  
A man approached her, his white fur headdress running down his back, his tattoos hidden   
  
beneath his armor. Balmung had effectively erased all of his barbarian heritage.   
  
"Did you hear of anything?"   
  
She asked, sensing him approach. Balmung nodded, his white steed huffing as it picked   
  
it's way over the rocks.   
  
"Sora is spooked by something." He replied.   
  
"Balmung, I thought that foolish man was beneath you. You said it yourself."   
  
"If anything scares that rat, I'm sure there must be truth behind it. He is riding to the   
  
north."   
  
Helba nodded.   
  
"Very well. We will follow him. Come, Balmung."   
  
Balmung nodded. They both spurred their horses, riding down the back side of the hill,   
  
out of sight of the soldiers.   
  
  
  
Bear shielded his eyes with the palm of one hand, examining the cloud of dust on the   
  
horizon.   
  
"Well, if they're ours, I think the counter-offensive is going to go well."   
  
"And if they're not, we need to start running." Mimiru finished his thought. Bear   
  
shrugged.   
  
"There's no logical reason they're the enemy. I checked the map before the last battle. The   
  
nearest pass aside from the one we blockaded is weeks away from the enemy camp.   
  
They'd have to be riding leopards."   
  
"Now, now. I've heard of leopard riders."   
  
Bear shook his head.   
  
"They're a myth."   
  
He said flatly, reaching down on his saddle, drawing his sword, and raising it above his   
  
head.   
  
"Hail!"   
  
The cry reverberated faintly over the plain. Tsukasa raised his own staff in recognition,   
  
but did not echo the leader of the other party's greeting. He carried it in one arm, holding   
  
the reins in the other, looking blankly at the savanna ahead of him. As the dozen or so   
  
soldiers came into view, he could see their leaders riding in the front. They were most   
  
obviously lovers, they seemed so close. Tsukasa shook his head. Serving under lovebirds   
  
had blown every time it had happened. He remembered being a grunt, before his magic   
  
potential had been uncovered, when his unit commander's lover had died during battle.   
  
The man had ordered the entire unit to a suicidal attack on the man that had killed her, the   
  
enemy general. After a rogue arrow took him down, his assistant was quick to withdraw   
  
that order and return to the original battlefield strategy. Tsukasa had been lucky to come   
  
out of that battle alive. The two generals pulled alongside him. The man extended a hand.   
  
"How do you do? My name is Bear."   
  
Tsukasa furrowed his brow.   
  
"Quoi?"   
  
Bear shook his head.   
  
"Bon l'apres-midi. Je m'apelle Bear."   
  
"Ah! Je suis Tsukasa."   
  
Tsukasa looked down at Bear's hand. Mimiru shook her head at them both. This   
  
happened every time. Bear would check to see if they spoke English, and when they   
  
expressed confusion in one of so many languages she'd lost count, Bear would pick up as   
  
if nothing had happened and clumsily introduce them to shaking hands. Tsukasa seemed   
  
to pick up on it faster than others, who continued to offer their left hand. (Which Bear   
  
continued to refuse. He knew where that hand had been. No toilet paper out here meant   
  
the left hand and running water was all people had.) Tsukasa was a bit brighter   
  
apparently. Mimiru muttered in her native Arabic tongue. Tsukasa's ears perked up and   
  
he looked over at her, asking her what sort of problem she had with him in her own   
  
language. Bear laughed and slipped into the third language as though he had been   
  
changing his socks.   
  
  
  
"Well, now that we can all agree on something, how about a full report, Commander   
  
Tsukasa?" He asked. Tsukasa sighed.   
  
"A total of two thousand men and supplies to last three months for both my troops and   
  
your previously submitted casualty reports..."   
  
Bear and Mimiru exchanged a sly look behind Tsukasa's back.   
  
"... And I pledge the full use of my magic into your service." Tsukasa sounded as though   
  
he had been reciting something he half remembered from his mystic training.   
  
"What can you do?"   
  
"Absolutely nothing."   
  
"Wonderful." Bear muttered.   
  
"I'm a strong fighter on the front, though."   
  
Bear eyed him again, looking at the staff he carried in his hand.   
  
"You fight with that thing?"   
  
Tsukasa nodded. Bear shook his head. This kid made no sense whatsoever.   
  
"We're half a day out from the base. Your troops can set up camp, and I expect you to   
  
accompany me to my office. I'm going to go have a chat with your subordinates."   
  
Tsukasa gave a light, sarcastic bow. Bear trotted his horse towards one of the unit   
  
commanders. Tsukasa smiled at Mimiru, who opened and closed her mouth in   
  
embarrassment, realizing he'd caught her staring. He gave a sly winked that effectively   
  
wrote 'MAY I GET IN YOUR PANTS' on his forehead, in Mimiru's opinion. She tossed   
  
her head back with a little 'hmph' and rode after Bear. "You love him, don't you?" He   
  
called after her. She snapped around and yelled at him.   
  
"Of course not!"   
  
Tsukasa sighed and watched the horizon again.   
  
  
  
After hearing the rumor from a trader from the north, Sora rode like the wind. Where the   
  
forest began there was going to be a battle, a terrible battle. The barbarian guerrilla camp   
  
had been found. Even with his horse enchanted to never become fatigued, by the time he   
  
got there, the dust would have settled. However, it was not the fighting he was worried   
  
about. It was the level of destruction. If the rumors he had been hearing as of late were   
  
true, one side had developed... well... Sora didn't exactly know what, he just knew it was   
  
big. He would have to wait until he reached the remains to find out exactly.   
  
  
  
A week passed. Kurim marched at the head of the unit, the unit's commander   
  
immediately behind him in formation. His scouts had told him that the enemy had   
  
stationed a handful of archers at the top of the range to keep away attack forces. The   
  
crossbowmen that marched behind him would easily remedy their presence. Kurim   
  
waved his spear, yelling for the unit to fan out and fire at will. The formation dissolved.   
  
Although the crossbow had a longer range than the hunting bows used by the barbarians,   
  
their height advantage meant that the crossbowmen would fall under enemy fire before   
  
they could return it. Thinly spreading the men in a noncohesive line would make them   
  
harder to hit. They could hear alarms beginning to be raised. They waited until they were   
  
closer. Arrows began to fall around them. Kurim snapped his spear up, knocking away an   
  
arrow, only barely even realizing he'd moved. His soldiers began firing. The men on the   
  
ridge began to fall, and soon the last few fled.   
  
"Hold fire!" Kurim ordered. A flag was raised by one of the messengers in the unit,   
  
unarmed men, quite often boys, who carried the flags that signaled orders and the unit's   
  
identity. A messenger, waiting on horseback outside of bow range, began riding back to   
  
the detachment's camp, to let them know it was safe to move in near the range. They   
  
could begin clearing the pass within hours.   
  
  
  
The camp had moved in closer to the pass, making camp just outside of bow range. A   
  
scaffold was erected over the area around the barricade with thick hides on the roof and   
  
two sides to protect from snipers, though men with crossbows did a good job of   
  
discouraging any attacks. Subaru wandered among the soldiers as they went about   
  
removing the boulders and stones that were blocking their path. She watched the ridge   
  
disappear off into the distance. Far off, something caught her eye, rising from the ground.   
  
"Kurim..."   
  
The man turned around from where he had been arguing with a subordinate over the   
  
scaffold.   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"I'm going to go for a walk."   
  
Kurim nodded.   
  
"Try not to get yourself killed, Subaru. No, no, no! It's plenty thick enough to stop   
  
crossbows! They don't even have crossbows! I don't care if they may have been   
  
reinforced, the barbarians have no crossbows, period! Boiling oil? Oh, now you're just   
  
being stupid."   
  
She walked beneath the sun, keeping the ridge to her right. As she approached it, she   
  
realized it was a thicket. An oasis. The scrub grass of the plain became a thick, lush   
  
carpet, tall ferns and trees. As she entered through the soft leaves, she heard the babble of   
  
running water. She came to a spring-fed pool, surrounded by lush vegetation, almost like   
  
a sort of jungle. The pool ran through a tunnel to the other side of the pass. A part of the   
  
tunnel caved inwards, almost like a walkway. She approached it, and ran her hand over   
  
the cool stone. Something beckoned her. She wanted to go to the other side. 'That's   
  
enemy territory, though. I shouldn't...' She was walking. The stream cast patterns of light   
  
across her dress, her face, and her tiny wings. The sound of the of the water lapping   
  
against the stone was hypnotic. To think that such a place could exist on the savanna, it   
  
was like another world... She was almost blinded by the light when she left the tunnel   
  
again. She saw the stream drop off into a waterfall.   
  
'Shine, bright morning light, now in the air the spring is coming, sweet glowing wind   
  
singing down the hills and valleys...'   
  
She heard singing from below! Was that a... a barbarian? But such a pretty voice. A   
  
man's voice? No, a boy's. Singing. She heard splashes. She peered over the edge of the   
  
cliff. The waterfall dropped for a long ways, and the vertigo made her head spin. She had   
  
to fight an urge to jump from the cliff. She could feel herself falling... falling... the splash,   
  
water running over her head. The singing was coming from beneath the waterfall. She   
  
stepped back and gripped her axe tightly. She slowly began to descend the cliff, walking   
  
down the steep slope of it's right side. She peeked around the edge of the cliff. The boy   
  
was bathing beneath the waterfall, the pool coming up to just above the level of his waist.   
  
He faced away from her, scrubbing himself with some hard sponge that she saw grew   
  
naturally beneath the waterfall. She saw his folded clothes lying at the edge of the pool, a   
  
staff placed across them, a floating jewel at it's center. A floating jewel just like the one   
  
in Commander B.T.'s staff. He was a Mage! She bit her lower lip. She couldn't tell him   
  
she was from the Empire. She couldn't defeat a Mage in combat! She quickly hid her axe   
  
among the bushes, trying to remember exactly where she had put it. He had stopped   
  
singing. She swallowed and hid, leaning against the rock face of the cliff. She watched   
  
him walk around the corner, able to see his full naked back. He remained completely   
  
oblivious to her. She watched him dress, pulling on his pants, tunic, and jacket. He lifted   
  
his staff carefully, the turned and noticed her. He leapt back and raised his staff.   
  
"Qui ˆtes-vous? Que faites-vous ici?"   
  
He yelled, circling her slightly.   
  
"I'm sorry... I don't understand you."   
  
"Do you speak English? Parlate italiano?"   
  
His staff dropped a bit.   
  
"Chi sono voi? Provenite dall'impero?"   
  
"I'm... I'm not from the empire! I don't want to hurt you!"   
  
"Liar!"   
  
"Really! Please, what's your name?" He was quiet for a minute. Then, he lowered his   
  
staff.   
  
"Tsukasa. I'm not really much of a fighter. You don't seem to want to kill me."   
  
"I'm not from the Empire."   
  
Tsukas shook his head and turned away from her, walking along the pool's banks.   
  
"And I'm Caeser. Where'd you get those clothes? You don't seem to be from around   
  
here."   
  
Subaru blushed. She'd never been a good liar. "My name is Subaru."   
  
He stopped again, turned around, and gave her a curt bow.   
  
"Well, Lady Subaru, it's a pleasure to meet you."   
  
His voice dripped with sarcasm.   
  
"But if you'll excuse me, I must be going. My horse must be getting restless..."   
  
"Wait!"   
  
Who was this barbarian? One who spoke Italian? A civilized language? He seemed like a   
  
nice person, not those full body tattooed monsters she had seen on the battlefield in times   
  
past. Although his face bore a few marks, they seemed, well, kind of cute. She ran after   
  
him.   
  
"Are you a Mage?" She asked.   
  
"I'm a Shaman."   
  
"A shaman?"   
  
"Yes. I can speak to the spirits."   
  
"The spirits?"   
  
"The trees, the grass, the winds, they have spirits."   
  
"They're governed by the Gods."   
  
Tsukasa shook his head.   
  
"Oh, no, that's going to get us nowhere."   
  
'Damn, though, she is cute!' he thought. He finally noticed something odd about her. A   
  
chill ran through his belly.   
  
"You have... Wings."   
  
  
  
"Yes." She smiled and pulled her shoulders up.   
  
"They're supposed to be a birth defect, a curse, but I've always liked them."   
  
"They call me the Tiny Angel."   
  
Tsukasa smiled.   
  
"Subaru the Tiny Angel. Cute. But I really must go. Good day, and good bye."   
  
And without anything further, he disappeared. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
A note: I claim artistic liberty and full intentions for any discrepancies   
  
between this fanfic and the actual middle ages (I.e. the world map). Also, I   
  
know the Romans didn't speak Italian. Don't tell me. You're wasting your breath.  
  
Tsukasa rode, his brown horse's hooves pounding as he took them farther and   
  
farther away from the oasis. His mind ran even faster. Who was this girl from   
  
the Empire? Why hadn't she tried to kill him, an 'inferior barbarian?' And what   
  
was an Angel, anyway? If he ever met her again, he would have to ask.  
  
Ginkan sat over a sake cup, staring at B.T., his eyes starting to drop out of   
  
focus.   
  
"Thank you for drinking with me. I believe I've had." He lowered the cup and let   
  
out a strained sigh.  
  
"... A bit too much."  
  
B.T. shook her head, sitting at the other side of the low table in a relaxed   
  
pose, unlike Ginkan's ceremonial kneeling position.  
  
"It's nothing." She replied with a small smile. His sword lay on his bed nearby,   
  
while B.T. held her staff upright, the levitating jewel never failing to attract   
  
Ginkan's eye. She downed another shot of the fierce liquid. Ginkan was drinking   
  
from his good bottle, she noted. He was either very happy or very worried. It   
  
was hard for him to get the rice wine this far from his native land, a place he   
  
remembered fondly, as far as she could tell from what he told her. The soldiers   
  
and generals of the Empire were from all across the world, she herself was from   
  
it's capitol, Rome, as was Subaru. Ginkan and Sora were both from an island off   
  
of the cost of Rome, Japan, an archipelago of islands that were the closest   
  
place the Empire held territory to the edge of the world. But of course, how   
  
Sora had made it this far west was a mystery. Kurim had been born in another   
  
great city to the south of Rome, Shanghai, capitol of the province of China, a   
  
land renowned for it's warrior generals. Before it had come under rule of the   
  
Empire, a great war had been fought there. Kurim's great great great great   
  
grandfather had been the leader of one of the warring factions, the Nation of   
  
Wei. They had unfortunately been crushed underfoot of the triumphant nation of   
  
Wu. B.T. was currently reading a novel that told of the heroic deeds of that   
  
time, a truly remarkable story. Ginkan lowered his head.   
  
"As leader of the Crimson Knights, I was informed of this news."  
  
B.T. nodded, but remained silent.  
  
"Command has developed new weapons and trained new soldiers, powerful weapons of   
  
science and technology. They are supposed to be capable of tremendous   
  
destruction. A group of them are being sent here. I fear that the time of the   
  
Crimson Knights' domination of the battlefield is beginning to end."  
  
B.T. nodded. She lowered her head.  
  
"I'm sorry, Ginkan. If things must change like that, the Empire has truly lost   
  
all sense of tradition."  
  
The alcohol must have given Ginkan, the staunch patriot, the strength to give   
  
the next outburst. He pounded the table with his fist.  
  
"The Empire never had any tradition! We've always been moving forward, making   
  
ourselves better, stronger, and more powerful. That I understand. However,   
  
neither the sword nor magic seems to hold importance anymore!"  
  
B.T. gasped as she realized why he'd wanted to speak with her. Technology. The   
  
antithesis of magic. If these new weapons were technological...   
  
"The College of Mages will suffer because of these new weapons." He said,   
  
pouring himself another cup of sake. B.T. nodded as she fully realized the   
  
situation. Should new, technological weapons prove their worth, the College   
  
would lose it's prominence, Mages would lose the sheer amount of power they held   
  
on the battlefield. She shook her head.   
  
"We're a dying breed, us chivalric warriors." Ginkan said with a sigh. B.T.   
  
echoed it.  
  
"Yeah. They don't make them like us anymore, do they?"  
  
"Let's get drunk." Ginkan downed another shot.  
  
"Good idea."  
  
"Sir!" Mimiru threw back the hanging skin 'door' of Bear's office, hurried in,   
  
and snapped to attention. Something urgent seemed to be on her mind.   
  
"At ease. What now?" Bear asked, putting down the paperwork he had been   
  
finishing.  
  
"The enemy has begun clearing the barricade. They drove away our guards with   
  
crossbows."  
  
Bear nodded. The crossbow was a dangerous weapon of the Empire's. Although it   
  
was a relatively simple improvement on the bow, command, as refined and   
  
civilized as they were, had yet to implement it on a large scale for their   
  
forces. The only crossbows he knew of on their side were shooting from behind   
  
trees in the north. "Very well. Any guesses on how long it will be before they   
  
can cross?"   
  
"Two weeks, sir."  
  
"How many of them are there?"   
  
"Roughly two thousand."  
  
Bear chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. That was bad. Two thousand with   
  
crossbows put him in a bad position. He still couldn't afford a siege; Tsukasa's   
  
reinforcements would never fit inside the fort.   
  
"One more thing, sir."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kurim is supposed to be with them."  
  
"Kurim?! The Red Dragon of Shanghai?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Kurim was a warrior for the history books. Mimiru could be the only match for   
  
him in a duel that Bear commanded. It was said that he could not be touched by   
  
any arrow, and no sword could pierce his hide. On the battlefield, it was said   
  
that he moved like the Chinese Dragon, effortlessly intertwining himself and his   
  
spear, seeming to fly on nothing at all. The Imperial soldiers called Mimiru the   
  
Desert Wind. She seemed to run through her foes, some said that she was   
  
everywhere at once. A soldier had seen his comrade slice right through her, only   
  
to be killed seconds later when she mysteriously appeared behind him. Both the   
  
sides' stories were greatly exaggerated, but Bear knew they were both incredibly   
  
strong fighters. He could tell by Mimiru's expression, just the subtle things in   
  
her face and tone of voice, that she wanted to take Kurim on as much as he   
  
wanted her not to. If she was killed by Kurim, he would lose... He would lose a   
  
major tactical asset. Yes, that was it.   
  
"Send a messenger to the command in Nairobi and update them on the current   
  
situation."  
  
"But that wouldn't get through for another month!"   
  
"This battle will cost us heavy casualties. We'll need more reinforcements, and   
  
they won't want to give them. But if we're lucky, command may feel like   
  
rewarding me for smashing an entire detachment."   
  
"But, what if they..."  
  
"Relax. I know the commander in Nairobi. He has confidence in me. I have   
  
confidence in me. I have confidence in you as well. Inform Tsukasa, then gather   
  
your unit commanders and brief them on the situation."  
  
"Yes sir!"  
  
At that moment, Tsukasa was at the oasis, waiting. He had already bathed. He had   
  
found this place a few days after he'd arrived. He'd told no one else about it,   
  
this secret place. He thought that Imperial girl would come back. He had been   
  
waiting here most of the day. His duties at the camp could wait. Finally, he   
  
heard footsteps in the tunnel.  
  
"He... hello?" He heard.   
  
"Down here!" He yelled. Her head slowly, cautiously came into view.  
  
"Is there anyone else there?"   
  
"No. Come on down. Let's talk."   
  
"All right."  
  
Subaru climbed down the slope on the edge of the cliff. He sat on a rock, his   
  
staff held in one hand. She sat next to him, her wings twitching a little.  
  
"Why did you come back?"  
  
"I wanted to know more about you. Why did you wait here?"  
  
"Because this is my secret place. A safe haven no one knows about."  
  
She drew her knees up to her chest.  
  
"Is that all."  
  
"Well, I've never actually met a real Imperial before."  
  
She nodded.   
  
"Have you ever heard of foot ball?"   
  
"Foot ball?"   
  
"You know, it's a game. Where you can't touch the ball with your hands."  
  
"Oh! I think I heard of it once."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Do you like games?"   
  
"Yes... I like to watch the gladiators, sometimes, when I'm home..."  
  
"Rome?"  
  
"Yes. Rome."  
  
"I've wondered sometimes, what Rome must be like. Nothing but people, isn't it?"   
  
"Something like that, yes."  
  
"I don't know how they live, one on top of the other like that."  
  
She giggled. He looked over at her.  
  
"Say... What's an angel, anyway?"   
  
They were like that for hours.  
  
Sora's horse had refused to come any closer on the last hill, so Sora had tied   
  
it and proceeded on foot. He stood and stared in horror at the scene ahead of   
  
him. The barbarian guerrillas hadn't been defeated, they had been massacred. The   
  
smell of sulfur wafted across the air. Fires burned here and there, and corpses   
  
littered the earth where the imperials had left them to rot. Men had been ripped   
  
in two by a mysterious force, and the ground was black and charred. He dropped   
  
to his knees.  
  
"What magic... How..."  
  
His jaw worked up and down soundlessly. The devastation stretched as far as his   
  
eyes could see, the entire town, even the natives that had harbored the   
  
guerrillas had been slaughtered by this powerful magic.  
  
"So. Now we can see the powers of technology."  
  
Sora was very suddenly on his feet. He whirled around, blade drawn in an   
  
instant, ready to slice through whoever had startled him. It met against steel,   
  
drawn amazingly fast to counter his spring-loaded knives. Once his panic had   
  
passed, the scene behind him snapped into focus. Balmung had raised his sword   
  
halfway from it's sheath, the base of the blade stopping Sora's strike. Helba   
  
stood a few paces behind him. Sora could never shake the feeling of her eyes on   
  
him behind that visor she wore.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Sora took a deep breath to calm his nerves.   
  
"It's... you."  
  
"Yes, it's me. Balmung, both of you, actually, put your weapons away."  
  
Balmung slid his sword back into it's sheath silently, Sora pulled the tiny   
  
lever that sheathed his knife while doing his best to stare at Helba with   
  
indifference.  
  
"What... how can something do this?"   
  
"We don't know, but we're doing our best to find out."  
  
"I can't begin to... I just..."  
  
"You've never seen this kind of destruction. It's understandable. The disregard   
  
for human life is unforgivable, even for the power-mad."  
  
"Caesar..."  
  
"Placing blame is useless. Now, how about you help us?" Sora could still   
  
remember the last time he'd decided to throw in with Helba and Balmung. He'd   
  
wound up dodging fireballs thrown by a very angry wizard who had found himself   
  
shy a mystic crystal. Even when Helba had paid him in gold and pointed him west,   
  
he still hadn't thought it was worth it. He still didn't think it had been worth   
  
it.  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"No. No, no, no..."  
  
"Come now, Sora. You want to know about this as much as we do.  
  
"No way am I working with you again."  
  
"Don't worry. No fireballs this time."  
  
Sora was quiet. Helba shook her head and reached into the folds of her robe. She   
  
tossed Sora a brown leather pouch. Sora distinctly recognized the jingle and   
  
weight of gold coins.  
  
"I'm in."  
  
"I thought you might say that. Here. Take these."  
  
She strode towards him, her robes rippling around her as she handed him a small   
  
orb and an amulet.  
  
"That orb magically records and plays back events from the point of view of the   
  
user. To activate it, hold it to your eye. Do the same to play back anything you   
  
may have found. Only you can record with it, and for all others it will let them   
  
see through your eyes. Good?" Sora took the orb.  
  
"And the amulet?"  
  
"An amulet of summoning. When opened, it will call me to you. Open it when you   
  
find something. Come now, time to go."  
  
"Right..."  
  
He walked with them back to where his horse was tied. As he followed, all he   
  
could do was reflect on... whatever it was. What could this be? Magic, issued to   
  
soldiers on a large scale? That was the only explanation Sora could think of.   
  
But how was the Empire doing this? Mage's staffs were useless except as a fancy   
  
club to anyone without magical aptitude, the floating orb signaling the inherent   
  
power of the user. Should someone who was not magically trained hold it, the orb   
  
would simply fall to the ground. Even if the Empire had managed to circumvent   
  
this, they were notoriously hard to manufacture. Issuing them on this scale was   
  
logistically insane.   
  
"I will see you soon."   
  
Helba said, more of an order than a goodbye.  
  
Sora nodded, and rode away.  
  
"Sir!"   
  
Kurim sat cross legged in his tent, one of his unit commanders barged in and   
  
saluted.  
  
"At ease."   
  
Kurim set down his pen, where he had been drawing in plans for the assault on   
  
the Barbarians.   
  
"Have you seen Lady Subaru lately?"  
  
"No sir. A report from command. Due to the cunning of the enemy general as   
  
described by Lady Subaru, they are sending us an additional four units and   
  
experimental weapons. Kurim narrowed his eyes.   
  
"Experimental weapons?"   
  
"The accompanying general will brief us more fully. They are to arrive within a   
  
week."  
  
"And the pass?"  
  
"Will be cleared in six days."  
  
"Good. Dismissed."  
  
"Yes, sir."   
  
Kurim went back to his work, now factoring in an additional four hundred men to   
  
his plans.  
  
He was there again. Subaru ran down the same slope, and Tsukasa ran towards her.   
  
They stopped short of each other, awkwardly.  
  
"It's good to see you again." She said.   
  
Tsukasa nodded.  
  
"You too."  
  
"Anything new?"   
  
"No, not really."  
  
They sat beneath one of the trees. Subaru leaned against Tsukasa, and felt him   
  
stiffen.   
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"N... nothing..."  
  
"Tsukasa, this is nice."  
  
"Subaru..."  
  
She rested her head on his shoulder. They said nothing for a moment. Subaru   
  
tipped her face up to look at him, and he lowered his to look at her. Their   
  
heads moved closer together, and their lips touched, gently, then pulled back by   
  
millimeters.   
  
"Tsukasa..."  
  
"Subaru, I... I love you."   
  
Subaru pressed her lips harder against his, this boy who was still so   
  
mysterious, so different from Kurim, her servant, her knight, this boy felt no   
  
obligation to her, no responsibility, yet he loved her just the same! Their   
  
tongues danced, and his hands ran up and down her back for a moment, before   
  
crossing across her shoulders and pulling her close. She laid back on the grass   
  
and Tsukasa laid with her, locked in a passionate embrace of lips. They let each   
  
other go for a moment, and Subaru laid her head on Tsukasa' shoulder.  
  
"My only love sprung from my only hate."  
  
Tsukasa was quiet for a moment, before he said,  
  
"That's beautiful."  
  
"William Shakespeare, he was a writer from one of the Imperial islands. It's   
  
called England."  
  
"I've been there. My people hated the English even before we wound up on   
  
opposite sides of the war."  
  
She squeezed him tighter.  
  
"Let's not talk about that."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Yeah..."   
  
They were like that for hours. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4   
  
  
  
Tsukasa had to fight the cold of the mornings. Becoming a shaman had involved learning   
  
many things, one of them was how the land acted with the sky. Where the land was   
  
barren, the sky would show no interest in her and keep his warmth away from her at   
  
night. That is why the mornings were so cold on the savanna. He pulled his blanket off   
  
and reached for his tunic. He had set up his tent at the center of the group he commanded,   
  
letting other generals keep control of their own detachments. Although he had held   
  
command over the soldiers on their way from Nairobi, now he was suordinate to Bear,   
  
and equal with a few other men that had been detached to this area. Straightening his cap,   
  
he pulled back the tent flap and stepped into the brisk wind that whistled through camp.   
  
He shuffled into the line that lead into the mess tent, took his rations, and sat on the   
  
leeward side of a tree, thinking. He had spoken to Mimiru the day before, and there was   
  
talk of an impending battle. A battle. He had always pproached battles with some sort of   
  
fanatacism, the rush of the charge, the joy he felt when he felt an Imperial's skull cave   
  
beneath his staff. But now, things were different. Every arrow that his men fired could   
  
land on Subaru. His mind was filled with images of her being ripped from her horse by a   
  
pike, cleaved in two by Mimiru's enormous blade, or even worse, she could be captured.   
  
All nobles that were captured faced two choices: Ransom and interrogation (using an   
  
arsenal of methods that had ironically been developed by the Imperials themselves), or   
  
death, by any of such lovely methods as hanging, burning alive, a swift arrow into the   
  
heart or throat...   
  
"Hey, boss, are you gonna' eat that?"   
  
He'd been sitting with his head in his hands. His bread lay half-eaten on the ground, and   
  
his sausage not too far away, untouched. "No, help yourself." Tsukasa dragged himself to   
  
his feet. He couldn't go on like this. He had to talk to her.   
  
  
  
Yet again, Bear sat in his office, a fire burning, lending warmth to the cold stone walls   
  
and floors. Battle plans and strategies went around and around in his head. Equipping his   
  
soldiers with woven grass pavises to shield them from crossbow fire? Flanking the   
  
enemy? Mines? Possibilities whirled in his head. Mimiru pulled back the hanging door,   
  
unnoticed by Bear. She saw that the lines under his eyes were getting darker. She sighed   
  
and moved on.   
  
  
  
As the sun rose, so did the temperature. Tsukasa appreciated this. Sora, however, did not.   
  
Sweat ran down his brow as he wearily jerked from side to side, following the movement   
  
of his horse. His horse, for it's part, struggled onward, it's head low. If Sora leaned too   
  
far forward, he would have been in serious danger of sliding down it's mane.   
  
"Hmph. Helba. Thinks she's all high and mighty, gives me gold. Fat lot of good it does   
  
me! If I don't live to get back to Shanghai, why do I need gold! Go west she says. It's a   
  
new fronter, she says! The new frontier STINKS!"   
  
He shook his fist at the world in general as his voice echoed off the rocks. He sighed,   
  
realizing just how futile it was. Sora peered into his water jug, trying to see if there was   
  
any moisture left. Just in case his eyes failed him, he shook it hungrily over his open   
  
mouth. A single drop did fall and land on his nose. He furiously tried to reach it with his   
  
tongue, the thrashings and twistings of which led him to fall off his horse. On the way   
  
down, he happened to give it a solid kick while trying to regain his balance. When he sat   
  
up again, it was disappearing over the horizon.   
  
"I HATE THIS PLACE!"   
  
  
  
He struggled to his feet and groaned. He walked. And he walked. And he walked more.   
  
He felt like he was carrying his horse. With a groan, he finally collapsed. "Well, I guess   
  
that this is it. Goodbye oh cruel world, never shall I sleep in the warm comfort of a   
  
brothel again."   
  
He coughed and rolled over on his back, his eyes losing focus before closing slowly. A   
  
large savanna mosquito fluttered down and settled between his eyebrows. One eye   
  
opened. The other followed suit. They crossed on the large insect. Sora's eyebrow   
  
twitched.   
  
"YAAH!"   
  
He leapt to his feet, swatting madly at his nose. He leaned over and rested his hands on   
  
his knees. Looking ahead, he saw nothing but the same empty grass that he'd been staring   
  
at for days. And... something else. A mirage? He squinted. Mirage, hell! He broke into a   
  
run.   
  
  
  
Subaru was waiting for him at the oasis. She leapt into Tsukasa's arms. They fell in a   
  
mad lock of tongues and hands, roaming and touching and feeling, love making them   
  
almost a single being. They fell onto the cool grass, the wet dew clinging to their   
  
clothing. Tsukasa   
  
finally broke the kiss, and let his arms fall away from her.   
  
"Subaru, I need to ask you something."   
  
She ran a hand through the grass, only able to see him through one winking eye, the other   
  
hidden beneath the lush carpet.   
  
"Sure." She replied with a giggle.   
  
"In three days, your Imperial soldiers will attack our fort, and then there will be a battle.   
  
A huge battle."   
  
Subaru looked away from him, down at the grass. The little haven they'd built together   
  
could only last as long as their respective armies were seperated.   
  
"Subaru, in three days you could be killed. I might have to give the order that will kill   
  
you."   
  
Again, she refused to meet his gaze, and started to turn over on her stomach. He stopped   
  
her, pushing her shoulder back firmly, surprised at his sudden tenacity.   
  
"I can't let that happen."   
  
"But, I can't call off a whole attack." She whispered.   
  
"You don't have to."   
  
"What?"   
  
"Run away with me, Subaru."   
  
She gasped. In the Empire, to forsake duty was the greatest shame one could ever   
  
commit. Tsukasa continued.   
  
"We'll leave this war behind us. We'll run away, far away, we'll go to the south, where   
  
there's peace, we can be together, and never have to see men die for no reason again!"   
  
He raised his hand up to cup her cheek.   
  
"I love you, Subaru."   
  
She brought her hand up to meet his. Long moments passed before she slowly, yet firmly,   
  
nodded her head.   
  
"All right. I'll go."   
  
Tsukasa smiled, and reached out to hold her again.   
  
  
  
Sora laughed as he dove into the creek.   
  
"An oasis! I'm saved! Dear gods that I may have offended earlier, thank you for your   
  
mercy!"   
  
He drank deeply from the creek before he splashed the water into his hair, lossening the   
  
clumps of dirt and twigs. His jaw dropped as his gaze passed over the shrubs at his feet.   
  
"Are those..."   
  
He fell to his knees to examine the bush more closely.   
  
"Strawberries!"   
  
He ripped off a handfull and stuffed them greedily into his mouth. Feeling about on his   
  
person for a bag, he muttered around the pulp,   
  
"What wath the market prith on theeth again? Fiffy a pound?"   
  
He swallowed.   
  
"Or was it thirty... what the hell! I'm rich!"   
  
He skipped merrily along, dropping the berries in his sack, whistling a tune he'd picked   
  
up in Shanghai. He thought to himself,   
  
'Hm... I haven't been to Nairobi yet. I wonder what I'd get for these there? I heard the   
  
women have dark skin. And are... eh...'   
  
The word 'endowed' went up in big neon letters across Sora's brain as he let out a   
  
contented sigh. He pranced along before a noise reached his ears. A noise he would   
  
recognize anywhere.   
  
"Lady Subaru?"   
  
  
  
Tsuka's tongue danced in her ear... she could feel his arms, pulling her closer, his hands   
  
grazing her nipples ever-so-slightly...   
  
  
  
Sora's look of pure astonishment upon finding strawberries in this hell-hole was put to   
  
shame by the utterly stupefied look he wore now. Subaru and... and... somebody that   
  
wasn't Kurim, that's who! Although he didn't feel any particular loyalty to either of   
  
them,   
  
his decency as a human being drove him to reach for the pocket where he kept the   
  
recording glass Helba had given him.   
  
  
  
He was in her, around her... she was moving... they were moving, together...   
  
  
  
Sora didn't stay to watch the ending. He grabbed his sack and dashed off in the assumed   
  
direction of the Imperial camp. It had to be close, and he had to tell Kurim about this!   
  
  
  
"So these are the new weapons? What kind of... I've never seen anything like it before!"   
  
The leader of their new troops had handed Kurim his own weapon for the commander to   
  
inspect. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It had a base of wood, and a long   
  
hollow shaft of metal, with gears and clockwork in the center. It was wholly unwieldly as   
  
a club, although a strong man could make some trouble with it, however, the soldiers   
  
he'd been sent were from his homeland of China, a land hardly known for it's people's   
  
size. Kurim, at his lanky build and nearly six-foot height, was considered a small giant.   
  
Kurim scratched his head.   
  
"So... what does it do, exactly?"   
  
The leader bowed and extended his hands in a request to have his weapon returned to   
  
him. After Kurim complied, he reached into his robes and, after procuring several bizarre   
  
items, began setting the delicate clockwork, pouring fine black powder into the strange   
  
weapon, and struck a match, which he laid in a small grip after pulling it back with a   
  
small 'click'. He raised the weapon to his shoulder in a most odd fashion, pointed it   
  
threateningly at a tree (All of his soldiers took several quick steps away from the tree.   
  
Kurim waved his hand, and his own soldiers did the same.) The man smiled and ordered.   
  
"I suggest you cover your ears."   
  
Kurim did this.   
  
BOOM!   
  
Kurim looked with confusion from the smoking mechanism to what was left of the tree.   
  
The leader smiled, full of satisfaction with himself, as he handed Kurim the weapon.   
  
"These are called muskets, from the technological school of firearms."   
  
Kurim smiled.   
  
"Lord Kurim! Lord Kurim!"   
  
And thus the moment was ruined. A certain curiosity was piqued in Kurim. That was the   
  
first time Sora had ever called him Lord without meaning to ridicule him. He handed the   
  
musket back to it's owner and ordered him to settle his troops, then come to his tent. The   
  
general bowed, about-faced, and began shouting orders to his troops. Kurim turned to   
  
face the stain on his existence, who seemed to be very out of breath.   
  
"What IS it, Sora?"   
  
"Message for you... You should watch it... in your tent..."   
  
"Watch?"   
  
Sora shook his head to indicate that he didn't want to explain, and waved his hand   
  
towards the command tent.   
  
  
  
Kurim's teeth clenched. A cord on his neck was standing out, and he was gripping his   
  
spear in a manner that made Sora take a few steps backwards from the commander's seat.   
  
Kurim stood and began to pace as he watched the events unfold. Finally, the glass   
  
dimmed. Kurim lowered it from his eye, and crushed the glass in his hand, the shards   
  
drawing blood from his palm. With a roar, he threw them across the tent. His shoulders   
  
drooped and he leaned on his spear. Sora thought that the ever calm man was on the   
  
verge of crying.   
  
"Kurim..." Sora couldn't help but try and comfort the man, however he could. In an   
  
instant, Kurim was standing up straight, his robes waving behind him as he shoved Sora   
  
out of the way and disappeared into camp again, the look of a demon on his face.   
  
  
  
Kurim had seen her go this way four times a week since they'd arrived here. With a   
  
company of eight of his new musketeers, they watched for a lone horse on the horizon,   
  
and found it.   
  
"Light your matches."   
  
  
  
Subaru could see them, even from here. An Imperial control, led by a man wielding an   
  
awfully familiar spear... wait, that was Kurim! He'd come to greet her? That was strange.   
  
She kicked her horse into a gallop, yelling his name as she came within earshot. That was   
  
strange, what were those things the men were... pointing... at... her? The soldiers rode to   
  
surround her. Her horse turned, nervously. It was an officer's horse, it had never seen   
  
combat in it's entire life, so this type of situation did make it quite nervous.   
  
"Kurim? What's... what's going on?"   
  
"Subaru, you're under arrest."   
  
"What?! Who are these men? What are those... things?!Kurim? I demand an   
  
explanation!"   
  
"Come with us, Subaru."   
  
"No!"   
  
She had to make a break for it! Those things didn't have too much reach, and how the   
  
men were holding them   
  
wasn't going to help that either. If she could just squeeze through... She kicked her horse   
  
and broke through the circle, heading back the way she had come. Her horse was much   
  
faster than theirs, if she could just get to the oasis in time...   
  
Kurim shook his head.   
  
"Shoot her horse."   
  
And all her plans came to naught. She was thrown to the ground, her mount flopping   
  
about as though it had been hit by an arrow. But, it was bleeding too much for it to have   
  
been an arrow, and there was no shaft. A hole in her horse's leg that was too big to   
  
explain. Kurim approached her and hoisted her into his saddle.   
  
"Now, let's not try that again." He whispered in her ear. He cast a disdained look on the   
  
fallen horse.   
  
"Kill it." he ordered, before giving a 'Hya!' and riding back to camp, Subaru sitting   
  
across his lap. She jumped at the crack of the musket.   
  
  
  
Kurim rode with her back to the camp, the sun setting behind the mountain ridge. 


	5. Chapter 5

Another cold morning. Subaru shivered from the chill. Her dress had been torn during her arrest, and she had spent the night shackled inside a wooden cage, treated like an animal by her own men. Hung on the cage's bars was a sign. She didn't need to look to see what it said. It would be in Kurim's native Chinese, and it would read 'traitor'. A pair of soldiers pointed and laughed at her, one throwing an apple core that splattered against the bars. When the detachment made it to a city, she knew what would happen. She would be tried. She would be tortured. And she would be executed. Three sets of footsteps approached her cage. A very familiar face lowered itself to look into her box.  
  
"So. You wouldn't happen to know anything of importance to this coming battle, would you? Or did you tell him our strategies?"  
  
The other two figures she could see belonged to Sora and B.T. The three of them coexisting peacefully was something she'd never thought possible. "Well? Are you going to answer me, or just lie there?"   
  
"My Lord..."  
  
It seemed that after Kurim had taken control of the detachment, he had instated B.T. as his advisor. He cut her off, standing again and looking back over his shoulder at her.  
  
"Don't even open your mouth! I'll handle this, without any input. From either of you!"  
  
She knew them all well enough to assume Sora had tried to interject. Kurim's face filled her vision again. She hung her head, her hair forming a curtain around her eyes. Good. She didn't want to have to look at this ugly place anymore. These ugly people all around her. "Now, do you have anything to say?"  
  
"We were going to run away."  
  
Kurim's mouth opened a bit, and his brow furrowed in confusion. "We were going to run away together. Away from the war. Away from people like you."   
  
Kurim's hands seized the bars of her cage and pulled on them violently, shaking the entire box, threatening to splinter it and inadvertently set her free.  
  
"You bitch! I'll kill you myself when we get to Nairobi, I swear it! And I'll find that barbarian! I'll make him a eunuch, Subaru, and then I'll..." "Kurim!"  
  
Sora had laid a hand on the man's shoulder. Kurim roared and struck, sprawling Sora onto his back. The rogue rolled nimbly to his feet, triggering a spring-loaded blade before leaping forward into an invisible wall. As he slumped back to the ground he noticed B.T.'s hand discreetly forming the sign for that particular spell as she spoke to Kurim in soothing tones. "Sir, nothing is to be gained by this. Please, control your temper. We must meet with the division commanders and discuss the battle plan."  
  
Kurim cast a final look at Subaru and spat in the dirt just outside her cage. He stormed off, B.T. following him. Sora remained behind for a moment, looking about to make sure no one was watching before dropping a small bag within her reach. She took it carefully, and undid the tie. A note, scribbled in Japanese. She only knew a little of that language, but the words were simple enough. Gomen nasai. I'm sorry. And beneath that, were... strawberries? How did Sora get these? That man was a mystery. She took one into her hand and lifted it to her nose. She sniffed it carefully before taking a small bite. They were strawberries! She ate greedily, having not had anything since her arrest. She whined when the bag was empty. She was still hungry, and strawberries had made her wish for home so much. Her brother would be playing in the yard, her mother would be on the villa, reading. But here she was, on the southern plains, dirty, cold, alone, and a traitor. She hung her head again. "Tsukasa, I'm so sorry..."  
  
Tsukasa threw a loaf of bread onto his blanket, spread out on the floor of his tent. Apple, wine, Book of Rites, copy of Le Mort D'Arthur, and a map; all his worldly possessions sprawled out on his sleeping blanket. He quickly tied it together with a few deft knots and slung it over his staff. Tomorrow the battle would rage. He had to ride today. He would be able to make it before he was missed, he was sure. From the oasis they would ride for Nairobi, and from there they could take a ship to Greece, that mythical land, far away from the war. They could stay there and never see war again. Once he set foot in Athens, maybe he would... well... He smiled and blushed a bit even at the thought of proposing to the woman. A wife? Is that what she might be? His mind followed that track. A little home, a farm, she would stay there while he worked and, maybe, just maybe, a son. Or daughter. Or both! He smiled and pulled back the tent flap, nodding at a soldier as he passed. He tied the blanket to his saddle, mounted, and rode from the camp.  
  
"Bear?" Bear had fallen asleep over his desk. He stirred at the sound of his name.   
  
"Mimiru?" he mumbled, coming around.  
  
"I brought you some tea."  
  
Sitting upright, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and took the steaming cup from his subordinate.  
  
"Thank you, very much."  
  
"It was nothing."  
  
He nodded, taking a deep drink to warm his insides, now that he had become conscious of the chill in the air.   
  
"What will we do?"  
  
He chewed on his bottom lip, then rose, taking a fur from the wall and wrapping it about his shoulders; he leaned forward and took another drink.   
  
"The enemy will move through the pass by noon tomorrow, and will move to the fort. We will meet them a quarter mile from the outlying camps."  
  
Mimiru nodded. These were basics, troop positioning was not what made someone a genius on par with the general who sat before her.  
  
"The enemy is armed with crossbows, so we cannot hold them back with arrows. Traps are too easy to spot on open savanna. No high ground to hold, no wall to fight against, no magic to help us. So that leaves us with only two options. Run away..."  
  
"Or fight them head on."   
  
"We will take heavy casualties."  
  
"Any use of pavises or shields? Do we have the supplies? What about the grass?"  
  
The grass on the savanna was always dry and brittle. If woven correctly, it might stop an arrow or two. Bear shook his head. "There is no lumber to make a good shield, and the desert grass is not strong enough, I tested it myself."   
  
"It'll be a slugfest."  
  
"It will."  
  
They both sat in silence as the noise of the camp filtered in through the window and door. Bear rose and stirred the fire, throwing on a piece of wood to burn. They sat in silence. Again, the warriors they heard now might be marching to their doom. Bear had yet to grow numb to the tearing he felt because of that idea. Mimiru simply sat, thinking of the fight. Mimiru, he thought, was a true warrior. He had seen her on the battlefield. When the soldiers killed, it was gruesome. Men would cry about on the field, wounded, their innards spilled on the ground behind them, their limbs hanging by threads. When Mimiru did not make a clean kill, they fell in a stunned acceptance, like one who is trapped in the wilderness and finally collapses on the sand. She truly was the Desert Wind.  
  
Where would he be now, without her beside him? She had never exactly saved his life, but always she had lead his troops with more competence than any commander he had ever known. Even when one leader fell, she could rally his troops and they would follow her gladly. He had known her for only a few years, and had met her when she was no more than nineteen, bright, fresh- faced and having never seen the heavy combat that they had confronted during their brief assignment to the meat-grinder of the front lines in the central hills, a place where they had both earned the reputations they held. Where Kurim had earned his own.  
  
Kurim. Word had it that he had deposed the leader of the opposing detachment, Lady Subaru, by some unknown crime. He was a competent strategist, although his greatest strength was in the field. To meet him in combat could be considered an honor, and Bear wondered if he might command the same respect from the opposing side. What a paradox war is. Respect the man you must destroy. Bear sighed.  
  
Sora wandered aimlessly about the oasis, plucking a berry here, a berry there. He was going to be rich! Rich rich rich! Sure, he'd given valuable product to the poor girl, but that was the least he could do when he'd... his spirits drooped for a moment. Couldn't think about that little mess. He had so much to be glad about! He hummed a little tune to himself as he went about his business. 'Shine, bright morning light...' He hummed along to the decidedly mellow tune before he stopped dead in his tracks. That wasn't his voice singing. Now that he thought about it, it sounded a little familiar. He crept to an empty space in the foliage. His eyes widened at what he saw. Him! The shaman that had been sleeping with Subaru! Sora pursed his lips. What was he doing here? He didn't seem all that strong. Sora took a closer look. A barbarian. Hmm... Tsukasa twisted in his chosen seat on the grass, bringing his staff into view. Sora's eyes moved straight to the gem.   
  
"Ru... by..."   
  
That was an entire... single... The fool didn't even know what he was holding! Strawberries could rot. He wanted that gem.  
  
Tsukasa had chosen to sit beneath one of the broad fern trees that bordered the oasis. Subaru would be here soon, and they could leave. They could start their new life together, and for that he would wait until the end of the world. A twig snapped. Tsukasa looked back over his shoulder. "Subaru?"  
  
A quick scan of the foliage showed that there was nothing there. He felt wary. Something was not right. Subaru never came from that direction, and... A rustle in the leaves of the tree above him. A shadow elongated itself. Tsukasa, instinct taking over from battles past, rolled to the left and came to his feet. With a shout, Sora plunged his blade into the ground.  
  
"Que-est que vous fait?!" Tsukasa demanded, reverting back to his native tongue, complete gibberish to Sora. The rogue lunged with one blade, Tsukasa parrying with the shaft of his weapon, then blocking another downward strike from Sora's other hand. Sora grinned. Rich! When he got that gem, he'd never have to leave the brothel again!  
  
Block, block, who was this guy?! Tsukasa dodged again. The man was no fighter, but was nimble enough that he easily ducked a counter from Tsukasa. He cursed in French and followed with another swing, penetrating the man's guard and striking him clean on the collarbone, causing a crunch and a dull snap.  
  
Far to the north, Helba turned her head sharply.  
  
"He's found something. Let's go."  
  
Sora cursed, translating Tsukasa's earlier expletive into Japanese. The blow must have broken his collarbone, and smashed the amulet Helba had given him. He rose again. He'd teach this little punk a lesson! The uncivilized bastard couldn't hurt Sora and get away with it! He dashed at Tsukasa, nimbly jumping over a swing that would have taken his legs out from under him, raising his blade to strike and... The air disappeared. He sucked in wind that wasn't there. The narrow end of Tsukasa's staff had firmly planted itself in his solar plexus. He couldn't breathe. He dropped to one knee as his opponent seized the opportunity. He stood, raised his weapon, and dropped it.  
  
There was a flash of white, then nothing.  
  
The blow connected with a crunch as the man's skull caved. The corpse slumped over on its side, and Tsukasa furrowed his brows. He hadn't expected for anyone else to be here. Could this mean more were coming?  
  
Before he could finish the thought, a blade was at his throat. "Imperial!"   
  
"Watch your tongue." A soft, but aggravated voice.   
  
"Enough, Balmung. Sora finally got what he had coming."  
  
The blade was gone and sheathed with the same impossible speed that had put it at his throat. Two strangers, dressed in white. A woman crouched over the rogue, Sora, he supposed from the name mentioned between the two. She rifled through his person, clucking her tongue and sighing as she found a broken amulet.   
  
"The recording glass is missing... It seems we've been mislead."  
  
"Yes, my lady."  
  
She stood and looked Tsukasa over.   
  
"A shaman, I see. And what are you doing here?"   
  
"Where did you come from?"  
  
"Some types of magic can give men wings. Now answer my question."  
  
Over the next hour, the nature of Tsukasa's actions in the area were revealed, including his affair with Subaru.  
  
"The recording glass is still missing. Balmung, go to the Imperial camp and look for where Sora may have stashed his things."  
  
"Right."  
  
Balmung disappeared into the foliage, leaving Tsukasa alone with Helba. There was an odd silence between them. They were both students of the supernatural, this was true, but it was obvious that this newcomer, whose name Tsukasa still did not know, was of much, much greater power than he possessed. She broke the stillness, musing to herself.   
  
"I have already sensed it. What we are looking for is here."  
  
"What?"   
  
"Weapons to change the world."  
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"Are you familiar with the story of Saint George?"   
  
"The man who slew the dragon and saved a nation."  
  
"This is that dragon, given into the hands of men."   
  
The Dragon of Saint George, a creature of nightmare that terrified every child. Greater than any wolf of life, any foe of war, any ogre, troll, or ghost of fiction. Tsukasa shuddered. Something so terrible didn't belong in the control of anyone.   
  
"So... can you sense things?"   
  
"Yes."  
  
He was deterred a bit by this, an answer so unbelievably blunt. "People?"   
  
"Yes."  
  
"Can you sense Subaru?"  
  
She paused at this. The boy wanted her to find his lover. Did he even know who she was? Could it be that she had never told him? She had never met Lady Subaru in the past, but had had dealings with one of her relatives. Indeed, her family held a heavy stake in the war, the only reason they would consign one of their own to command duty. The poor girl was stuck out here only because of the interests her uncle had in Nairobi gold. Such terrible bureaucracy plagued the Empire now. Helba needed to check up on Balmung anyways. She stretched out, feeling for the bloodline she had sensed in her uncle when she had dealt with him. She passed over Balmung, who was riding for the Imperial camp, and moved on to the camp itself. Command tent... not there. Officer's mess... no. Searching through the camp with her senses, she came across a familiar energy. Kurim, the Red Dragon. He was here? Anger flowed from him, hatred. Why? He was walking, deadly intent on something.  
  
Kurim returned to Subaru's little window again.  
  
"Come on."  
  
Kurim performed a swift and powerful kick on the cage's bars, shattering them. He seized her by her hair and dragged her to her feet, stiff and weak from being confined for the past day.  
  
Helba gasped. The girl had been arrested? Why would they arrest their own commanding officer? Her eyes opened, remembering who was with her. And what he had been doing. Oh.  
  
"Well, Subaru?"  
  
"I don't know anything!"  
  
"Lord Kurim, I must protest..." B.T. murmured.  
  
"Quiet, or you're next!" She knew this part of the camp, and remembered now where he was taking her. It was a fixation in any imperial camp, a single trunk driven into the ground. She remembered, six months ago, a soldier had stolen a horse from one of her commanders. She had ordered him brought here. Kurim threw her against the post, and in a moment, her hands were bound to it. She struggled, fought, but couldn't escape. Kurim's voice, behind her. She could hear soldiers gathering, looking for something to occupy the dead-time before they went to battle, the worst moments in a soldier's life. "I'm sure you all recognize who this is. This is Subaru, a traitor to the Empire, a woman treacherous enough to sell out your lives to the barbarians!"  
  
Jeers and shouts rose up from the assembling mass.  
  
"Here today, we will give the punishment that does not touch on what she might deserve!"  
  
Now the mob had been formed. She had always hated this place. Always, and it had almost never been used when she held power. She had asked herself what she would feel if she was the one to be lashed. And she could only think of... of Tsukasa.   
  
"Tsukasa, I'm so sorry."  
  
The first blow fell. She didn't hear the report of the whip against her skin, but knew it was there. Her world exploded in red, red agony coming from her flesh, red on the post as she collapsed against it, blood from those who had been there in the past. Another blow, numbing the first. Her knees were weak. How long would he do this?  
  
Helba winced. Tsukasa looked at her in horror.  
  
"What? What's wrong?"  
  
"Subaru has been arrested."  
  
"What?"   
  
"She's being... no. You must stop them."  
  
Helba tried not to interfere in matters that weren't hers to bother with, but this was too far. She had a little heart.  
  
"But... but..."  
  
"Listen to me. Tomorrow, they will go to war. Imperial protocol is that prisoners cannot go to the battlefield. You will slip into their camp then and free her."  
  
He nodded.  
  
"All right."  
  
The foliage rustled. Balmung appeared.   
  
"It's here."  
  
"Did you get a good look?"  
  
"Yes. They have technological weapons."  
  
"What do they use?"  
  
"I'm not sure... some sort of tube and explosive, it fires a lead ball faster than anything I've ever seen."  
  
"They're marching tomorrow."  
  
"We won't be able to stop them."  
  
"It seems that we failed in our endeavour, Balmung."  
  
"Yes, my Lady."  
  
"Tomorrow, then. We won't be able to stop the progress of technology."  
  
She turned to Tsukasa.  
  
"But we might as well help you. Make camp. We'll leave here tomorrow."  
  
B.T. knelt before Kurim's seat in the command tent. "Battle preparations are set, my lord. We march at sunup."  
  
"Good."  
  
Mimiru stood at attention in Bear's office.  
  
"Everything is ready, arrow, armor, and sword. All the troops are ready to march tomorrow morning."  
  
"Good work, Mimiru."  
  
"Thank you, sir." 


End file.
